Female transcriptomic responses to simulated microgravity in a dry immersion model: insights into TP53-regulated stress pathwayDownload PDF Download PDF ArticleOpen accessPublished: 13 August 2026Sheikha Alshehhi1,Catherine Taylor2,Amal Jangjoo1,Zeinab Ibrahim3,Andrew P. Blaber2,Hanan Al Suwaidi3,Nelson C. Soares4,Mohamed El-Hadidi1 &…Nandu Goswami3,5 npj Microgravity (2026) Cite this articleSave articleView saved research We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.AbstractDry immersion (DI) serves as a validated analogue for microgravity, yet transcriptomic responses in women have been scarcely studied. Here, we present a TP53-focused transcriptomics re-analysis of female participants following 5 days of DI, highlighting TP53-related stress responses relevant to astronaut health. RNA-seq data were generated from blood samples collected from 18 healthy women at baseline (BDC-1), day 2 (DI2), day 5 (DI5), and post-recovery (R + 1). Differential gene expression and pathway enrichment analyses assessed timepoint-specific transcriptional changes, with emphasis on TP53 regulation. Principal component analysis showed timepoint-dependent divergence, with the most significant alterations occurring at DI5 and a partial reversion by R + 1. TP53 targets linked to DNA repair (GADD45A, DDB2), oxidative defence (SESN1, TP53I3), and apoptosis (BAX, BBC3) were upregulated during immersion. Pathway responses included activation of hypoxia and interferon signalling, and suppression of haem metabolism and coagulation. Together, these findings provide insight into female molecular adaptation to short-term unloading, highlighting a swift yet reversible TP53 response accompanied by immune, metabolic, and vascular adaptations. These observations advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying women’s physiological responses to unloading and support the development of sex-informed precision health strategies for future space missions.SubjectsBiomarkersComputational biology and bioinformaticsGeneticsMolecular biologyAcknowledgementsThis study was supported by the Dubai Future Foundation RDI project ASTROAIMED (PI: Nandu Goswami). The funders had no role in study design, data analysis, manuscript preparation, or the decision to publish.Author informationAuthors and AffiliationsDepartment of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Dubai, UAESheikha Alshehhi, Amal Jangjoo & Mohamed El-HadidiDepartment of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, CanadaCatherine Taylor & Andrew P. BlaberCenter for Spaceflight and Aviation Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU), Dubai Health, Dubai, UAEZeinab Ibrahim, Hanan Al Suwaidi & Nandu GoswamiCenter for Applied and Translational Genomics (CATG), Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU), Dubai health, Dubai, UAENelson C. SoaresGravitational Physiology and Medicine Research Unit, Division of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Otto Loewi Research Center of Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Graz, AustriaNandu GoswamiAuthorsSheikha AlshehhiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarCatherine TaylorView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAmal JangjooView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarZeinab IbrahimView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAndrew P. BlaberView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarHanan Al SuwaidiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarNelson C. SoaresView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarMohamed El-HadidiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarNandu GoswamiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarCorresponding authorCorrespondence to Nandu Goswami.Ethics declarationsCompeting interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.Additional informationPublisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Supplementary informationRights and permissionsOpen Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleDownload PDF